Introspect [The Mating Games #3]

ORION KALLIS

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night,” Phoenix groaned as she took the seat next to him, immediately leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder.

“If that’s your way of saying that you missed me, I’ll take it,” Orion chuckled, throwing his arm over the back of her chair.

“It’s not, but I did,” she pouted, turning her head to prop up her chin, staring up at him from under her long lashes.

“That’s good because I missed you too,” he murmured, turning his head to brush his lips against the crown of her head, lingering there. “Why didn’t you sleep well last night?”

“I don’t know,” she exhaled deeply, the sound speaking more words than she was vocalising right now.

“It sounds like you do,” he prompted her.

Sighing again, Phoenix pushed herself back up into a sitting position. She turned and angled her body so she was now facing him, a displeased expression on her face.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about what Denver said yesterday,” Phoenix started. Her lips moved as she continued speaking but he wasn’t listening anymore. Not with how annoyed he was.

Remind me why we’re not giving Denver a piece of our mind right now, his wolf snapped at him. This wasn’t the first time that his wolf had brought up the suggestion since yesterday, something which he had even kept Orion up about for a portion of the night. Then, he had been hopeful that Denver was just annoyed and overreacting; that by the mating ceremony on the very last day of the Mating Games all of this would have blowed over. But the fact that his mate had lost sleep over it angered him in a way that he couldn’t even begin to explain.

Because that would just get us in more trouble, Orion couldn’t help but growl back. He wasn’t angry at his wolf, but he was very angry at the situation. Or more specifically, Denver who had presented them with it.

Would that really matter by this point? his wolf prompted him, his words prompting some pondering over the suggestion. I mean, how much can they really punish us? We’re already in trouble for something as simple as turning up late to a task. That’s already one punishment. I don’t think they can punish us twice for a task.

Perhaps, but none of this is Denver’s fault either, Orion reminded not only his wolf but himself, too. It’s the Mating Games. The rules are so strict.

Never heard of shoot the messenger?

At that, Orion rolled his eyes but struggled to hold back the chuckle that escaped him. However, he didn’t get a chance to correct the creature.

“Orion,” Phoenix called out to him once she realised that she had lost him. “Are you listening to me or have I lost you?”

“Sorry, I was listening,” he shook his head before returning his attention to her. “I just dazed out for a second.”

“If you were listening then what was I saying?” Phoenix laughed, cocking a questioning brow in his direction.

“That you couldn’t sleep last night because you were worrying over the punishment that Denver threatened us with.”

“I don’t think he was threatening us. More so speaking the truth.”

“Regardless what his intention was, that’s not ok. Even if he did mean well which I don’t think he did,” Orion denied, a serious expression on his face.

Almost as if she hoped to change the subject, Phoenix cocked her head slightly to the side; studying him.

“Were you just speaking to your wolf?” she asked curiously.

He nodded his head in answer.

“What was he saying?”

“He’s not very happy with Denver right now,” Orion chuckled, choosing to gloss over just how annoyed and furious his wolf was with the steward right now.

At his response, she frowned.

“We can’t blame Denver when it was us who broke the rules,” she sighed, staring up at him from under her long lashes and deep blue eyes which would be able to convince him of murder if she so much as asked that of him. And it wouldn’t take much convincing on her part either.

A simple ask was all it would take from his beautiful mate.

“Perhaps, but neither my wolf nor I are very happy about his words keeping you up all night,” he told her, his lips pinched at the corners. “He could have been nicer about it. More professional. Instead, it was rather personal and that I didn’t like.”

“I was exaggerating,” she tried to backtrack but it was far too late. Neither Orion nor his wolf were falling for that. When she saw the determined expression on his face, Phoenix sighed and wound her arm around his, not stopping until their fingers were laced together. “Ok, maybe I wasn’t exaggerating, but this is definitely our fault. We can’t shoot the messenger, if you know what I mean.”

Both Orion and his wolf wished they didn’t. But they did.

“I know,” he sighed, his lips stretching into a thin line. “But it’s just so frustrating.”

“We shouldn’t have stayed out to late yesterday. We should have headed back to the apartments before we got tired. Then we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Phoenix groaned, going off into a mini rant.

“I know, angel,” he sighed, brushing his lips against the crown of her head once again. “There’s no point looking back now because what’s done is done.”

“Let’s just focus on the remaining tasks and worry about the punishment when the time comes,” she sighed in agreement, turning her head to graze a kiss to the underside of his chin.

“I still don’t think that we should be punished over something so small but you’re right,” he hummed, dipping his head to steal a quick, cheeky kiss. When she playfully nipped at his bottom lip, he growled lightly.

Before they could get carried away, she pressed a hand to his chest and moved her face away from his. Watching her from under dark, hooded eyes, Orion was very tempted to wound his hand in her hair and force her lips back to his but alas, that probably wasn’t ideal as they were in such a public setting.

“Honestly, I don’t see much point in these games,” he murmured quietly. “We’ve already met. I don’t understand why we can’t start the rest of our lives together.”

“We can’t be thinking like that,” Phoenix sighed, her lips turning down slightly at the corners. “Thinking like that is just going to get us in more trouble.”

“You don’t like a bad boy?” he quirked a teasing brow in her direction, his lips tugging into a big playful grin as she scowled at him.

“Not when that means it’s going to get us in more trouble with the Alpha king,” she denied but couldn’t hold back the chuckle.

“I’ll try for you,” he said, giving in. “But what do I get out of it?”

“A mate as wonderful as me isn’t enough?”

“It’s so much more than enough,” he grinned, swooping in to steal one more cheeky kiss. Not that Phoenix had any complaints.

And perfect timing, too, as the gong sounded to indicate the start of the next task: silent chess.

One of the stewards had explained the rules of today’s task earlier, but Orion was still a little confused. As a pair, they were to play chess against a highly-skilled player who was part of a group that had trained and practiced all year for this one moment. As if that wasn’t odd enough, they were to do it all without communicating with each other. Not just verbally, but physically and through signals, too. To ensure that, an opaque screen had been placed up between them just as had been between all of the other mates sat around the grand hall.

Orion wanted to wish his mate the best of luck but unfortunately, that wasn’t a possibility anymore as the task had already started.

They had agreed earlier that Phoenix would be the one to make the first move so he sat back and waited patiently. He watched as she reached out and pinched a pawn piece between her thumb and forefinger, moving it a step forward before pressing the timer to indicate that their time was over. Next, he waited for Jay, their opponent for today, to make their move.

The moment Jay pressed down on the clock to indicate the end of his round, Orion made his first move and ended the round within a few seconds.

While Orion still didn’t see the point of finishing the Mating Games as him and Phoenix had started early due to meeting each other before the start, he would try for Phoenix as he knew that this meant a lot to her. And so, for that reason, he was determined to excel at this task and then every other task that remained.

After all, as soon as the Mating Games was over, they had the rest of their lives together.

Once things started up and they were getting more into the game, Orion found himself really getting into it. Very quickly into it, he came to a revelation.

As much as I adore our mate, she sure does suck at chess, his wolf hummed, studying the current state of the board after the last move that Phoenix had made. Before she had moved the pawn, he had been in the clear to take out one of their opponent’s pawn pieces with his bishop but now he was officially blocked.

You can say that again, Orion chuckled internally before returning his attention to the board. We’ll either have to teach her to be better at it or just let her win.

I doubt Phoenix would be happy with a pity win, his wolf chuckled, his eyes trained on their mate who was currently deciding her next move.

Orion hummed in agreement and said, something tells me that we’ve got a little spitfire on our hands.

Quite ironic since we call her angel.

At that, the both of them chuckled.

Within no time at all, Orion had the upper hand in the game. However, it didn’t help that with every step that he took, Phoenix managed to undo it by taking one step back.

If only they were allowed to verbally communicate with each other. Then, this would have been all over by now and they would be able to spend the rest of the day together.

But alas, if things were that simple then it wouldn’t be the Mating Games.

-

Layla Knight

16.06.2021